Update: Newcastle were not just playing games with the latest training gallery

Almost as soon as we scheduled our training gallery story to go live and update came out confirming our worst fears.

We had hoped that Alexander Isak's absence from the training photos posted on the official Newcastle United website was part of a ploy to lure Fulham into a false sense of security after he picked up a hefty whack to the face on Sunday against Wolves.

It wouldn't have been the first time that a player was deliberately kept out of the training images to keep people guessing, so we had a bit of hope that this was the case with Isak.

However, it turns out that the £63 million man is a doubt for Saturday's clash at Craven Cottage with a fresh injury concern.

Getty Images

Alexander Isak has picked up a toe injury

On top of the face injury he picked up on Sunday, The Daily Mail has said that Isak has now picked up a toe injury which puts him as a big doubt for the weekend.

This is a massive blow for Eddie Howe who doesn't have Callum Wilson available to call upon leaving him with the option of giving Will Osula is debut or playing Anthony Gordon as a makeshift striker again which is something we'd hoped we'd never have to resort to again after the summer.

While Newcastle did buy a striker in Will Osula, it's clear that Eddie Howe doesn't feel he's ready as he was left on the bench after Alexander Isak's withdrawal on Sunday and Gordon was moved to the middle.

Harvey Barnes could be the big beneficiary of Isak's misfortune

Playing Gordon as a striker will mean that Harvey Barnes will almost certainly be chosen to start, which would be the one good thing to come out of this.

Barnes has been one of our better players so far this season and it was baffling when the team selection was announced on Sunday and he was on the bench.

The former Leicester City man had the last laugh, however, coming off the bench at half time and eventually scoring a stunning goal to bag Newcastle the win.